Set in a huge open world reminiscent of the Americas during the golden age of steam trains, Railroads Online puts you in the role of a pioneer helping to shape the future of America. Build tracks, traverse vast landscapes in various steam locomotives, transport goods to earn money, and customize and buy new locomotives and equipment as you grow to become a railroad tycoon...

Railroads Online puts you in the role of a pioneer helping to shape the future of America

Railroads Online sets out to be a deep, richly rewarding sim game and on first appearance the developers have poured a lot of time and effort into delivering an authentic gaming experience that attempts to employ real life mechanics to the steam trains at your disposal.

You can play in single player mode, or with up to 15 friends on 3 large maps in the online cooperative multiplayer mode.

You are tasked with building a strong infrastructure, with carefully planned trade routes, in order to build up your company by transporting goods for a broad range of industries across the country, including timber, ore, coal, cattle, gold, and other various freight items. As well as buying better rolling stock, you'll need to build stations, yards, and other infrastructure along your routes to service your trains with fuel, water, and sand. You can also build a wide variety of iconic buildings and objects to create a beautiful landscape for your railroad network.

Unfortunately it doesn't take long before the cracks start to appear and the numerous bugs start to rear their ugly heads. Firstly, and for me, most importantly, there is (at launch) no way of inverting the X and Y camera controls. If, like me, you are used to doing this, then Railroads Online is almost unplayable. There are hardly any games out there that don't allow this as an option, so I'm confused why a game where moving the cameras around is an integral part of the gameplay that this issue isn't addressed. I tried the system settings option on the PS5, but that made no difference.

Transport goods for a broad range of industries across the country

Another annoying bug saw me having problems stepping into the train cabs. Again, this is an essential element of gameplay. If it wasn't for the fact that I am a huge fan of this sort of game, especially considering the depth on display here, and that I was reviewing it, I would probably have stopped playing and have attempted to get my money back.

I'm hoping that these issues are addressed in future patches, and when they are this game will be a must buy for serious railway enthusiasts. As it currently stands, at launch, it's a bit of a buggy mess.

5

Nick Smithson